Historical Events
- 1790 Supposedly impenetrable Turkish fortress of Izmail stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies during the Russo-Turkish War (1787–92)
- 1877 Thomas Edison's phonograph is announced by Scientific American
- 1885 Itō Hirobumi, a samurai, becomes the first Prime Minister of Japan
- 1989 After 23 years of dictatorial rule, Romania ousts Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu
- 1990 Lech Wałęsa sworn in as Poland's 1st popularly elected president
- 2010 Repeal of the "Don't Ask Don't Tell policy", a 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the US military, signed into law by President Barack Obama
- More Historical Events
Dec 22 in Film & TV
- 1932 "The Mummy" directed by Karl Freund and starring Boris Karloff is released in the US - 1st Mummy horror film
Dec 22 in Music
- 1894 Claude Debussy's first orchestral masterpiece "Prélude à l'apres-midi d'un faune" premieres in Paris
Dec 22 in Sport
- 1894 United States Golf Association forms in New York
Did You Know?
Colo is born, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Columbus, Ohio
On December 22, 1956
Diocletian
Frank Kellogg
Giacomo Puccini
Connie Mack
Maurice Gibb
Ralph FiennesWould You Believe?
The execution of Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky by firing squad is called off at the last second
On December 22, 1849
Famous Weddings
- 1882 Australian soprano Nellie Melba (21) weds Charles Nesbitt Frederick Armstrong in Brisbane; separate in 1883, marriage dissolved in 1900
- 1915 Biologist Alexander Fleming (34) weds Sara McElroy
- 1936 Austrian-American filmmaker Billy Wilder (30) weds first wife Judith Coppicus; divorce in 1946
Famous Divorces
More Weddings & Divorces
George Eliot
Beatrix Potter
Lucy Burns
Chico Mendes
Samuel Beckett
Joe CockerArticles, Photos and Quiz
The Rise and Fall of Mrs Mapp, the Bone-Setter
Born in poverty and obscurity, she died on this day in the same state, but along the way Sarah Wallin became the much sought-after Mrs Mapp, the Epsom Bone-Setter
December 22, 1737
Weekly Quiz for December 16 - 22
What is the world's most performed ballet? Who discovered radium in 1898? Which new currency launched in 1995?
